THE BEARING OF PRIESTHOOD
THE BEARING OF PRIESTHOOD
JT I thought it might help us to look at priesthood in its bearing manward. The priests were to serve and minister to God, and according to what was established under Moses, all depended on the priest, both in judgment and in the ordering of the temple.
Ques Is there an answer in the New Testament to what is set forth in this Old Testament economy?
JT Yes; Christ is set forth as Priest for ever over the house of God; Christians also form a holy priesthood. The priests were set apart. Moses spoke of Levi as the holy one, so Aaron was called the saint of the Lord in Psalm 106:16. Levi said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him”; Deuteronomy 33:9. At that time Levi did not recognise the natural, but the spiritual. The apostle (writing to the Corinthians) said, “Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you?” 1 Corinthians 6:5.
All in the Mosaic system was based on precept, but christianity was introduced in connection with the children of wisdom. There is only one High Priest, and He is over the house of God. A priest considers as to what is suitable to the sanctuary and the rights of God. In Christendom there has been no regard of the rights of God, but it is the first thing with the priest. See Exodus 32:26. Moses said, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” There were three thousand slain that day!
The priest is not merely local; he is concerned for the rights of God everywhere. A priest is connected with the tabernacle. Wisdom marked him. Three things marked certain men of the children of Issachar: they kept rank and had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 1 Chronicles 12: 32 - 38.
[p. 488] According to the passage in Malachi, the priest had failed in all this!
The consecration of the priests is given in Leviticus 8; the blood being applied to the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the foot. All this indicates they were sanctified. The priest as filled with the Spirit of Christ, judges for God, and is free from partiality. We are apt to prefer persons who are in our own station of life, character, etc., but the priest knows none of these things. A very strong point with Levi was, he knew not his father, mother, brother, or children, according to nature. He was without partiality.
The first thing towards recovery to all this is to give glory to His name. You consider for God. See verse 2. The Lord honours any exercise in reference to His people. If any lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. The sons of Aaron would see their father’s breastplate, and therein was the Urim and Thummim†; the means which God had of making His mind known. Any priest could see that. For instance, John as being in the bosom of Jesus had access to Christ and Peter beckoned to him to ask the Lord who should betray Him? It was when the Lord raised that question, that the Urim and Thummim was needed, but not when the question was asked, “What shall this man do?” John 21:21.
According to Ezekiel 44:15,16; God says that the faithful ones “shall approach unto me to minister unto me ... into my sanctuary”. What exercises arise in a ease of discipline, because it is a moral question. We have principles to guide us, but not for each thing separately, it is left to the priests’ judgment. We are all priests by calling, but there
†Meaning light and perfection. Exodus 28: 30; Numbers 27: 21; Deuteronomy 33: 5; 1 Samuel 28:6.
[p. 489] should be state in accord. It is there that consecration comes in. Recovery is brought about through the priestly state, or else by self-judgment, as in Corinthians. What Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians showed that the priest was needed.
If you are a priest your love will not let your brother go, even though like Paul you are not actually of the company locally. All the brethren are in the breastplate, though they may be very naughty, and these two epistles show how Paul considered for God first, then for man, or else Satan might get advantage. In a case of discipline we should act as a company. The priest will not let the brother go and if he is dealt with, it is only for recovery.
Rem In verse 6 of our chapter the order is very remarkable, and it is all very beautiful. Then each one is in the breastplate — the place of love. What a great heart he had! The weak brother, too, you must not upset him.
JT There is the principle of local responsibility, but finality is by the priest. We must be balanced. Decision is by the priest, and the first mark of the priestly state is that he considers for God, and is related to the sanctuary wherever he is, so a priest is concerned about things that refer to Christ. He gets his orders and directions in the sanctuary. Love is really the most skilful of all things. If a brother is weak you will consider him; whether weak or wilful, he is to be cared for, for we are to have compassion. To make more of one brother than another is not priestly. The Lord is said to be the great Priest over the house of God, Hebrews 10: 21. That is very beautiful.
Malachi tells us that “he shall purify the sons of Levi”, Malachi 3:3,4. Verse 16 says that they were speaking to one another, and the Lord observed it and heard. So surely the priesthood is restored, as we see also in Luke. There is recovery, they bring [p. 490] tithes into the storehouse and the people are fed, Malachi 3:10.
So in the instructions in Leviticus 14 for the cleansing of the leper or house, it was the priest who was required, one of intelligence and salvation. I like to see a person clothed with salvation. One cannot pull another out of the fire unless clothed in salvation oneself. In Luke we learn that Zacharias, through unbelief, had his lips sealed. It should exercise us, if the lips of any are sealed. If Christ was before us our lips would not be sealed, but one would have the words of wisdom.
The priest can go into the sanctuary, that is where he learns the mind of the Lord. Priestly power and wisdom refers more to a state among the Lord’s people, and any exercise should be respected, for to disregard it may be to disregard what God is doing. It is as well to acknowledge the state of weakness and paralysis.
In the epistle of James we see the traits of priestly wisdom; it is “first pure, then peaceable, without partiality, and full of mercy”. James 3:17. I often think of Joshua and Caleb among the remarkable men in Scripture. They bore the sufferings of the desert for forty years for the sins of others, and thus gave God the opportunity to show what He could do. Joshua said, God kept us alive after forty years, so that we never suffer by waiting on God.